§ 70-2623. Qualifications.

A.  Subject to the availability of funds, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education may annually award a maximum of three hundred full-time-equivalent scholarships for the Tulsa Reconciliation Education and Scholarship Program to residents of the Tulsa School District.

B.  To qualify for a scholarship, an applicant shall satisfy the following criteria:

1.  The family income of the applicant from taxable sources is not more than Seventy Thousand Dollars ($70,000.00) per year;

2.  The applicant attended a Tulsa public school where seventy-five percent (75%) or more of the students enrolled in the school qualify for the free and reduced lunch program; and

3.  The applicant resides in a census block area within the Tulsa School District where thirty percent (30%) or more of the residents are at or below the poverty level established by the United States Bureau of the Census.

C.  The Regents may consider as a factor, when determining the order of preference of applicants, whether an applicant is a direct lineal descendant of a person who resided in the Greenwood Area in the City of Tulsa between April 30, 1921, and June 1, 1921.  If the Regents use descent as a preference factor, it shall be applied to all applicants regardless of race.  The applicants shall be required to present verifiable documentation of their lineage.  The Oklahoma Historical Society shall verify the authenticity and accuracy of the documentation submitted by an applicant and shall establish the boundaries of the Greenwood Area.  Verifiable documentation shall include, but not be limited to the following:

1.  Family records including family bibles, vital records, correspondence, memoirs, journals, diaries, unrecorded deeds, diplomas, certificates, or testimonials;

2.  Public records including censuses, government records, military records, pensions, land bounty records, passport applications, passenger lists, original grants, naturalization or immigration records, records of entry, or state, province, or local records; or

3.  Institutional records including church records, cemetery records and inscriptions, education institutions, insurance records, or societies and fraternal organizations.

D.  The Regents shall promulgate rules establishing the application requirements for the program and the system for evaluating applications based on the preference factors.

E.  Applicants shall also meet the eligibility criteria established in Section 2624 of this title.

F.  The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education shall also be authorized to annually award scholarships for the Tulsa Reconciliation Education and Scholarship Program to two students at each of the high schools in the Tulsa School District for the purpose of preserving awareness of the history and meaning of the civil unrest that occurred in Tulsa in 1921.  The following provisions shall apply to the scholarship provided in this subsection:

1.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B of this section, eligibility for the scholarships awarded pursuant to this subsection shall be:

a.enrollment in the appropriate high school,

b.family income of the applicant from taxable sources not to exceed Seventy Thousand Dollars ($70,000.00) per year,

c.satisfaction of the criteria specified in Section 2624 of this title, and

d.any other relevant criteria determined by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education;

2.  The State Regents shall involve the administration of the Tulsa School District in the selection process;

3.  The award shall be limited to a one-year full-time-equivalent period.  Following successful completion of such award, recipients who meet the criteria provided in subsection B of this section shall be eligible to apply and be considered for continued participation in the full Tulsa Reconciliation Education and Scholarship Program.  Any student subsequently awarded such scholarship shall have the duration of the scholarship provided pursuant to this subsection deducted from the limits set in subsection D of Section 2625 of this title;

4.  The award may only be funded with state funds appropriated to the Tulsa Reconciliation Education and Scholarship Trust Fund and income therefrom, and shall be made subject to the availability of such funds; and

5.  The awards made pursuant to this subsection shall be included within the maximum number of scholarships specified in subsection A of this section.

Added by Laws 2001, c. 315, § 17.  Amended by Laws 2002, c. 395, § 8, eff. Nov. 1, 2002.